Mother manikin for teaching approved practice of obstetrics and midwifery



May 1,, 1951 2,551,560

J. O. GRAVES MOTHER MANIKIN FOR TEACHING APPROVED PRACTICE OF OBSTETRICSAND MIDWIFERY Filed Oct. 18, 1950 IN VENTOR BY W ATTORNEYS Patented May1, 1951 PROVED PRACTICE AND MIDWIFERY OF OBSTETRICS .luliaOleandcrGraves, Savannah, Ga.

Original application December 2'7, 1949, Serial No- 135,156. Divided andthis application October 18,1950, Serial No. 190,858

2 Claims. I

; This invention relates to educational appara- -tusfor teaching, bymeans of demonstration, the

approved'practice of obstetrics.

There are many sections of the country in which modern knowledge andprocedure in the practice of obstetrics is not wide spread, but inwhich, on the contrary, the majority of child births are entrusted tomidwives whose training is limited to that acquired through experience.It is upon the supposition that the older the midwife the moreexperience she has, that the more elderly midwives have gained aprestige over the younger members of the group, so that they bring tothe childbed traditional practices which do not make sense, and some ofwhich are positively detrimental to the welfare of mother and child.

The practice is reflected in the statistics which show that in thoseplaces where the practice of obstetrics is for the most part left tounlicensed midwives with no standard of qualifications, the mortalityrate of mothers, as well as new born babies, is much greater than in themore favored sections where hospitalization and scientific technique arethe customary resort.

State agencies endeavoring 'to raise the standard of obstetricalqualification are confronted with the alternative of refusing to licensethe great bulk of midwives, or of offering them as a condition toeligibility for a license, a short course in the only practical methodof training that is adapted to their very limited educational status,that is, by a system of demonstration. The first alternative iimpractical, since there are not enough qualified nurses to go around,and in the hinterlands where the need for improved knowledge and methodsis greatest, the people would resort to the midwives, licensed or not.

The present invention represents one of the correlated phases in asystem of instruction by means of which a qualified instructor candemonstrate to a class of limited literacy, in an interesting and easilyunderstood manner, the phenomena of parturition and the proceduresrequired in a normal delivery, as well as the more common exigencies ofbirth encountered sooner or later in the experience of the midwife. Thesystem comprises these elements, employed singly and in combination.

( a.) The mother manikin.

(b) The fetus doll.

(c) The placenta, per se, or in combination with the fetus.

Said three elements or features are disclosed in my pending applicationSerial Number 135,156,

2 filed December 27, 1949. The present application covers themothermanikin, and is a divisional application, out of said pendingapplication, by official requirement.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a mother manikinsubstantially full size, having an abdominal cavity open at the front,selectively closable by one of three ventral covers of different degreesof convexity, copied from nature, representing the shape at the threetrimestral periods of pregnancy, by means of which the mid wife canlearn to judge by observation how far the gestation period has run, inthe examination of her patients.

Another object of the inventi n i to provide a mother manikin asdescribed, in which the addominal cavity is sufiiciently capacious toenable the instructor using a full size flexible jointed fetus doll todemonstrate the several positions which the fetus may occupy in theabdomen at the time of delivery.

Still another object of the invention is to provide the mother manikinwith a flexible and expansible vagina forming a wall of the abdominalcavity, sufficiently large to permit the fetus doll to pass through it.

Another object of the invention is to make the mother manikin withjointed head and limbs so that various positions assumed by the mothercan be demonstrated, such as the knee-chest attitude, useful inretarding delivery.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the following descriptionof a preferred and practical embodiment thereof proceeds.

In the drawings throughout the figures of which the same referencecharacters have been used to denote the same part:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the mother manikin.

Figure 2 is a side elevation, partly in section.

Referring now in detail to the figures, the numeral i represents themother manikin as a whole, which preferably has the size and generallikeness of an actual woman, the head, arms and legs being preferablyjointed, as shown, so that the manikin can be made to assume variouspositions of which the human body is capable. The manikin may be made ofany suitable material such as papier-mach, plastic, etc., and may becovered with a skin coat of latex or other material simulating skin inappearance and to the touch.

The m'anikin l is provided with an abdominal cavity 2, which opens inthe ventral surface of the body, and which is sufficientlyjcapacious tocontain a full sized fetus doll, with enough room to permit theinstructor to move the fetus doll within the abdominal cavity todemonstrate various lays. The ventral opening 3 is provided with threeclosures, 4, 5, and 6, adapted to be selectively employed to show thecharacteristic shape of the abdominal wall at the end of each of thethree trimesters of the gestation period, useful in cultivating theability of the student midwife to determine approximately the stage ofpregnancy attained by her patients.

The contour of these closures is a faithful replica of the shape of theactual abdomen at the stated periods of pregnancy. The interfacial edgesof the ventral opening 3 and the respective closures 4, 5, and 6 isplaniform, and any suitable means for detachably securing the closuresis within the purview of the invention. The illustrated embodiment showsspring tongues l, riveted one on each side of the closure, which snapinto corresponding recesses 8 in the inner Wall of the abdominal cavity.The closure may be removed by grasping it on opposite sides and pullingit in a direction away from the body against the resistance of thespring tongues.

The lower part of the wall of the abdominal cavity is provided with anopening 9, of such size as to let the head of the fetus doll passthrough it, this opening being covered by a flexible yielding membrane[0, of suitable material such as 2' rubber, formed with a vaginalopening I l of normal size capable of stretching to permit the passageof the fetus doll. The vagina is preferably made as life-like aspossible, and the external genitalia may be represented.

The fetus doll (not shown in this application), having been placed inthe abdominal cavity, the instructor by pushing it step by step againstthe vaginal membrane from the inside, can demonstrate the progress ofnormal as Well as unusual 4 deliveries and teach the student how tomanage the same.

The head l3 of the mother manikin is turnable, the arms H jointed atshoulders and elbow, and the legs at hip and knee, so that the mothermanikin can be placed in any of the positions which it is advantageousfor the patient to assume, incident to delivery. The upper part of theabdominal cavity has a removable door [2, through which access can behad to the joint mechanism (not shown), of the head and arms,

. for tightening the same when required.

While I have in the above description disclosed what I believe to be apreferred and practical embodiment of my invention, it will be unspiritand scope of the invention.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In an educational device for teaching midwifery, a mother manikinhaving an abdominal cavity open at the front, and a series of selective-1y usable closures for the front opening of said cavity having differentconvex contours simulating the abdominal shape at different stages ofthe gestation period.

2. In an educational device for teaching midwifery, a mother manikinhaving an abdominal cavity open at the front, a flexible stretchablewall at its lower end provided with a vaginal opening therethrough, anda series of selectively usable closures for the front opening of saidcavity having different convex contours simulating the abdominal shapeat different stages of the gestation period.

JULIA OLEANDER GRAVES.

No references cited.

